Thanks for joining us
We’ve discussed everything from cryonics to cats on the internet today, so very much appreciate you getting involved and sharing your thoughts with us. You can continue the conversation in the comments and we’ll be back with another Guardian Social next week – in the meantime you can email sarah.marsh@theguardian.com or matthew.holmes@theguardian.com with any feedback or things you’d like to talk about.
Have a great weekend!
Cycling in the city: Detroit's problems pedal change
I didn’t know what to expect turning up in Detroit to write about American cities trying to find alternatives to the car recently, beyond the cliches of blight and abandonment.
Those things are undeniable – and hit you as soon as you enter the city – but what I hadn’t expected was how they could lead to something positive.
A contact suggested I have a look at the deprived Chalmers neighbourhood of east Detroit, so I borrowed a bike and headed over. The tyre shop, the chicken place, the beauty salon … more than half the high street stores along that section of Jefferson Avenue were boarded up; some optimistically offered as “development opportunities”. A glance at the residential streets behind revealed row upon row of vacant lots.
But Chalmers also had a few hundred yards of something new in the City of Detroit and rare in the United States – a protected bike lane.
I poked around a bit, then pedalled east across the invisible line into the wealthy suburb of Grosse Pointe. The poverty stopped abruptly … but so did the safe space for cyclists.
That was the point when it hit me that Detroit’s problems had created something most cities don’t have – and wish they did – space. Ironically, I didn’t have room to include it in the finished article.
'Fat letter' sent by schools: food for thought?
Getting a letter through the post saying your child is obese is never going to be a comfortable experience. Weight is a sensitive subject, and noone wants to feel their parenting style is being criticised. But, given that one in five children now leave primary school obese, do local authorities have a duty to warn parents?
The comments below the line on this piece are an interesting read, including this from Pepperthecat
“I don’t actually know of any evidence the this ‘letter to parents’ intervention is an effective one (e.g. do kids getting letters have a lower incidence of obesity later on in life than a control group who have not received them?) Has it ever been tested properly ie in a randomised trial? If not, it is quite possible that it has no benefit, or is even harmful!
If the government were serious about childhood obesity they would focus on proven interventions at a population level, such as banning junk food advertising, heavy taxes on sugary drinks and the like.”
What are your thoughts?
More of you are taking our quiz – and doing rather well
Have a go yourself here:
It seems many of you have really been swatting up
Re. the fake news quiz: 10/10 (though if it wasn't for reading real news, I would have probably fallen for one of the stories: can't say which...*spoilers*).
10/10 - although I would have fallen for the last one if I hadn't already read that it was false somewhere else.
Epic love story
It’s sweet, in a way, that Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher had an affair on the set of Star Wars. After all, they played two of the most iconic characters in movie history, so in a way it’s a bit like hearing that Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd got it on during the Back to the Future wrap party. It’s sweet. But let’s not read too much into any of this. It was a fleeting thing, and it’s over now. And thank goodness for that – if Episode VII taught us anything at all, it’s that a Ford/Fisher pregnancy can only ever end badly.
Science fiction becomes fact
In the Guide’s special Future Issue we wondered just how much the grim predictions of pop culture past got right about the future. Back To The Future, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Simpsons, The Who and 1984 all foretold a scary amount of stuff that actually came to pass, but there was a lot we didn’t have room to get into the magazine. Driverless cars – like those pootling about in Total Recall (only without the creepy-as-hell robotic driver) and Demolition Man – are here; Star Trek’s replicators inch ever closer with each advancement made in 3D printing; and the virtual reality of The Lawnmower Man and Red Dwarf is now within reach of anyone willing to fork out a grand or so.
But, after we also talked about cryonics earlier what other cases are there of science fiction becoming everyday fact? And are there any instances where sci-fi predictions missed the mark?
Updated
A lot of you have some LONG commutes!
For a few years my commute was bout 4 hours a day (2 either way). I didn't really mind it at the time, as I just slept on the way up and the journey on the way back was a good length of time to read, watch videos etc, without too much disruption. I ultimately gave it up though as I was needing to work longer and longer hours and a 4 hour commute on top of that isn't sustainable.
It was only when I gave it up did I realise how completely knackered I had felt the whole time. That seemed normal to me, and it was only in not feeling that way did I realise how unhealthy it probably was. I'd never go back to doing that as a result, unless things were absolutely dire (and given that the route in question is operated by Southern, it would have to be really, really dire to do that commute again).
My husband has a 2 and a quarter hour commute each way, from Gloucestershire to Canary Wharf, three days a week. He goes by train so his strategy is to sleep on the way in, mop up emails and doze on the way home.
Our next door neighbour is often on the same trains and I know at least four others that do it on a regular basis
Donald Trumpalike
The world is full of Donald Trump lookalikes it seems – the Guardian’s video team has put this clip together after the latest was shared widely on social media on Friday ...
A post-truth year?
Further to that false news quiz (see here) we were interested to spot this week’s announcement of the Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year ... We’ll let the Guardian’s Instagram feed explain:
What do you make of the concept, and the phrase?
And here’s a response to the quiz:
Oh, the embarrassment. I actually fell for two of those ten stories in the quiz. Goes to show, nobody is immune to the pernicious effects of this propaganda. (Most of it isn't satire--it's propaganda. Learn the difference.)
Why are cats so popular on the internet then?
Guardian staff Cats + the internet work so well because in real life they're so full of contempt for humans and so aloof (my own cat only thinks of me as a reasonably efficient food dispenser AT BEST) that capturing them unawares on camera looking daft is very rewarding, much more so than dogs because you get the feeling dogs would be so happy that a picture of them looking silly made you happy. A new cat gallery everyday please or maybe a rolling liveblog. Thanks in advance.
Updated
Your daily commute
The number of workers who commute daily for two hours or more has increased by a third in five years, a study shows. Why? Research finds stagnant wages and soaring housing costs mean people are forced to get jobs further from home. I am keen to hear from readers who regularly spend a good few hours en route to the workplace. How do you cope? Do you love it? What are your favourite commuting activities? Have you learnt any valuable rules of travel?
As someone who gets the dreaded Northern line every day, I don’t know how you do it!
Cats on the internet – a cliché made in heaven?
I don’t quite “get” the obsession with talking about how cats on the internet are a perfect match. But sometimes you just have to roll with it.
My favourite from this gallery celebrating California-based photographer Seth Casteel’s new book (he’s most famous for his shots of dogs underwater) is Jon Snow, seventh down in this gallery ... and right here, all kangaroo-like hind legs and frog paws:
Quiz: can you spot the fake US election news stories?
A news quiz for you now:
Did Donald Trump win the popular vote in the US election by 700,000 votes? Was he born in Pakistan? These questions and more form our fake news quiz, which comes after claims the propagation of false stories on social networks impacted the result.
Let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Updated
Donald Trump’s latest movements, as described by our Washington correspondent (see 12:46) aren’t pleasing many of you below the line.
Trump:
I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!
As if we needed any further convincing that we are in the grip of a nightmare 'unreality' show, hosted by an egotistical sociopath.
His son-in-law, Jared Kushner
More powerful than Trump, wealthier, younger, more ambitious and BIG BIG trouble imv.
Getting the squeezeboxes out
Here’s a quick distraction for you, an invitation to nominate a tune for your fellow readers to listen to as part of the readers recommend series, which has been running for over a decade with a different theme each week.
This week you’re looking for songs that feature the accordion, and will produce a playlist for next Thursday, so do get involved.
Updated
Isn’t there already a “terrifying invincible cyborg” somewhere on the loose, Reprobus?
No, I'd like my to be buried in the sod and a tree planted over me so that I can be recycled into something beautiful and useful. And I'd like my mind to be uploaded into a terrifying invincible cyborg so that I can wreak my vengeful wrath on the weak and pitiful remnants of the human race.
Another thought on death, and how we deal with it
I don't have a problem with this.
Religious people find peace before death with the belief that they will be going to a better place after they die.
If non-believers can find relief believing that they will be resurrected physically (rather than spiritually) after their death, then surely that is their business
Completely agree with this comment. This girl's choice gave her a kind of faith and comfort. Having known a couple of people around this age who have sadly passed away and the questions they ask their parents during that period, I think it would be unfair and unwise to judge her mother for supporting this. Many parents resort to white-lies at this stage of an illness, motivated by love. Perhaps this approach isn't much different.
A week in Washington
Our Washington correspondent gives us the briefest of updates on life just ten days since the election.
After upending political wisdom to win the US presidential election, Donald Trump has begun building his administration this week. He was holed up at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan, New York, where a procession of hopeful candidates were seen coming and going. In a tweet, the president-elect even appeared to compare the process with his reality TV show The Apprentice.
Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016
Indeed, it was another case of Trump tearing up the political rule book. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was said to be a key influence on the transition, including reportedly “a Stalinesque purge” of those who fell out of favour. Outgoing president Barack Obama, meanwhile, has described Trump as “pragmatic” and “gregarious” and suggested he will take the job seriously. Is this wishful thinking on Obama’s part? Is he right to be so gracious about Trump or is he simply in denial? Does he have a choice?
Updated
“Shouldn’t uploading and downloading consciousness be the more immediate goal?” asks this reader:
At the risk of getting all "mind-body problem", I'm not sure what freezing your body accomplishes, other than to ensure that you have a nice cancer-y corpse to come back and rattle around in. Shouldn't uploading and downloading consciousness be the more immediate goal, since that's the bit we're interested in?
Science might make a fool of me yet, but I'm pretty sure that by the time science can copy-paste your mind from one place to another, they'll be able to 3D-print new bodies like novelty ham-slices.
I realise I have made bioscience sound like some kind of terrifying gothic Kraft-owned demon, but hey, that's pretty much what it is.
Some thoughts on that question shared below the line already
I can't see myself ever wanting to have my body frozen, although I can understand why a teenage girl who died before she had the chance to have a full adult life would want to. But my ideal would be to live to an age where I feel I've had a rewarding life, rather than to want to prolong it in such a way that even if it were to work, I'd wake up knowing no one or nothing about the wider world.
Now, if time travel was on the cards.
Would you have your body 'frozen' after death?
What kind of world would you wake up in were your body to be frozen for 10, 20, 50, 100 years?
Some might say it can’t get much worse, but for one young woman, who has won a high court ruling allowing her body to be frozen in perpetuity, there’s at least the hope it will be one in which she can be cured of the rare form of cancer that has already taken her life.
It’s usually the stuff of science-fiction – we know of Fry from Futurama, who wakes up in the 31st century after being accidentally frozen in 1999, and perhaps have a vision of Han Solo’s figure etched in carbonite in the Empire Strikes Back. Could we really be about to enter an age where the process is a genuinely viable medical option?
The field of cryonics has apparently advanced in recent years, with a process called vitrification partly to thank, and some scientists are hopeful.
The question we want to ask you is whether – regardless of the science – you would take the option should it be offered. Under what circumstances would you consider placing your body in storage (should you have the £37,000 burning a hole in your pocket around)?
Do you share this reader’s grisly cynicism?
At some point, when there are hundreds of thousands of freezers full of hopeful corpses, and the cryo firms find their business model is unsustainable, you just know that a pet food company is going to buy them all out.
At least I hope it's a pet food company.
Maybe you are saddened by the moral dilemma?
Whether or not this is possible is really beside the point. A family was torn apart at the time a 14 year old was dying, a judge had to make an incredibly difficult decision, a dying 14 year old was offered what was almost certainly a false hope, a father was alienated from his dying daughter. A family that was apparently not in any way wealthy scraped together the money for an almost certainly worthless procedure.
It's an unimaginable tragedy. How terrible for everyone concerned. Perhaps it's time to simply ban procedures like this in the UK.
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
Updated
Welcome to our social
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly social, where we discuss the week’s news and comment with our readers. It includes insight from our journalists above the line about articles they’ve read or worked on. We’ve got lots of stuff on the US election this week, as well as some nuggets on a Star Wars romance and that cryonics question leading some newspapers on Friday morning. Look forward to getting started.
Updated
9/10 on the false news quizz. I didn't pay strict attention to how ill Hillary was when walking to her SUV.